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On Saturday night the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois will be the host site for the next installment of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC.

Three fights are scheduled to be televised, with the main event featuring a bout between Andrzej Fonfara facing off against contender Joe Smith Jr. Rau’shee Warren is also scheduled to rematch Juan Carlos Payano for the WBA Bantamweight championship. Rising star Erickson Lubin is also scheduled to fight on the televised portion of the card when he takes on Daniel Sandoval in the junior middleweight division.

Erickson Lubin is only twenty years old and he already has fourteen bouts on his professional resume.

He had a successful amateur career and was considered by many to win a gold medal in the 2016 Olympics but he decided to turn pro instead. Daniel Sandoval is five years older than Lubin, bt will be about one inch taller and an inch and a half longer.

Lubin has been very active since turning pro. He fought five times in 2015 and once in 2016. Sandoval, by contrast, has not been very active and fought once in 2016, once in 2015, and two times in 2014. Additionally, Sandoval has fought mainly in Mexico but he has made an occasional trip to the United States for a fight.

Lubin has not faced anyone of note, but has defeated the likes of Alexis Comacho, Orlando Lora, and Ayi Bruce. Sandoval has one four of his past five fights by stoppage and has defeated the likes of Grady Brewer, Richard Guiterrez, and Gabriel Martinez.

Lubin is a young, hard hitting prospect. Sandoval has not been in the ring with quality opponents, but his thirty five stoppage victories should be of some concern to Lubin. Lubin has ten stoppage victories on his resume.

Lubin is considered by many to be one of the top young prospects in the sport of boxing. Sandoval has the power to score an upset victory, but Lubin has the talent to become a future world champion.

This is a rematch of their title bout in 2015 which featured Payano escaping with a split decision victory over Rau-Shee Warren. It was a highly entertaining bout, but many felt Warren should have been declared the winner. Warren also lost two points for fouls in their original bout.

Payano is thirty two years old and three years older than Warren. They have the same reach and Payano is slightly taller than Warren. They both are not known for their knockouts. Payano only has eight stoppage victories while Warren only has four.

Warren has been very active, as he fought four times in 2014 and two times in 2015. Payano has not been as active, but he does have a better resume of defeated opponents. Payano has defeated the likes of Anselmo Moreno, Jundy Maraon, and Jose Araiza. Warren has mainly faced average competition and has defeated the likes of Javier Gallo and Jose lUis Araiza.

Both boxers had successful amateur careers. Payano competed for the Dominican Republic in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. Warren is a three time Olympian for the United States and won the 2007 World Amateur Championships as a flyweight.

Many felt Warren defeated Payano the first time they fought but he gave away the fight with his needless fouls. He should be able to avoid the mistakes he made last time and win convincingly in the rematch.

Andrzej Fonfara (28-3) vs. Joe Smith Jr. (21-1); Light Heavyweights

Joe Smith Jr. has a good record, but he has not faced anyone of note.

Fonfara is twenty eight years old and two years older than Smith. He will also have a two and a half inch height advantage.

Neither boxer had any notable success on the international circuit as an amateur, but Fonfara did have success on the national circuit in Poland as an amateur.

Fonfara has been active as he fought twice in 2014 and in 2015. Smith, however, has fought four times in 2014, three times in 2015, and once in 2016.

They both have average stoppage power. Fonfara has stopped sixteen of his opponents while Smith has stopped seventeen.

Fonfara clearly has the edge in quality of defeated opponents. He has defeated the likes of Nathan Cleverly, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Gabriel Campillo, Tommy Karpency, and Glen Johnson. His losses were to Adonis Stevenson in a close bout, Derrick Findley, and Eberto Medina. Smith has defeated the likes of Will Rosinsky and Cory Cummings. His lone loss was to Eddie Caminero in 2010 by TKO.

Fonfara will be fighting in front of a friendly crowd in Chicago and is angling for a rematch with Adonis Stevenson. He should easily defeat Joe Smith and face Stevenson next.

This Saturday, Premier Boxing Champions will present an exciting boxing card from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Packed with Olympians, former titlist and the WBO Cruiserweight champion. Teammates on the 2012 US Olympic team Errol Spence Jr. and Marcus Browne will reunite and put their undefeated records on the lines against each owns respected opponents. While the Co-Main event will see the return of former two time Cruiser weight world champion Steve “USS” Cunningham, in his first fight back from a brief stint at heavyweight, he will attempt to win back a world title against the undefeated Kzysztof Glowacki.

Marcus Browne is a 25 year old, undefeated Southpaw, who was a member of the 2012 US Men’s Olympic team. Browne has an impressive record and has faced some tough fighters on his quick rise up the light heavyweight division. He fought four times in 2015, winning all of his fights, including a knockout out of former titlist Gabriel Campillo and retiring veteran Aaron Pryor Jr. Browne has a very good amateur background and knows how to box, but he also carries heavy hands, with 13 of his 17 wins coming by way of the knockout.

Kalajdzic is also a young, undefeated fighter, with heavy hands. His opponents have not been up to the same standard as Browne’s, but Kalajdzic possesses stopping power in his right hand and he will look for the upset on Saturday night. Kalajdzic also fought 4 times last year with wins over Larry Pryor, William Johnson, Gilberto Domingos, and Fabio Garrido. This would be a big upset if Kalajdzic could pull it off, but he is undefeated and relatively unknown. This would be his chance to show what he is made out of on national television.
Krzysztof Glowacki (25-0 16KO) vs. Steve Cunningham (28-7-1 13KO): WBO Cruiserweight Title

Cunningham first became a world champion in 2007, traveling to Poland and winning a Majority decision against Krzysztof Wlodarczyk. He defended that title against Marco Huck and ended up losing the title to Tomasz Adamek in 2008. He regained it 3 years later in Germany against Troy Ross, before losing it to eventual lineal champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez. After that fight, Cunningham decided to make a run at the heavyweight titles. Even though he was much smaller than his competition, Cunningham stayed in the division for three years, going 4-3-1, with wins over Manuel Quezada, Amir Mansour, Natu Visinia and a draw with Antonio Tarver. Cunningham was never able to put on enough weight to fully compete in the division against the very large men and decided to come back down to his natural Cruiserweight division and attempt to become a 3 time world champ.

Glowacki is a 29 year old who is coming off the biggest fight of his life. In August of last year, he ended a historic championship run by Marco Huck, coming from behind and picking himself off the canvas to Knockout Huck in incredible fashion in the final round of their “fight of the year” candidate match. Last year’s fight against Huck was Glowacki’s first fight outside of his native Poland and he proved his mettle. This has the promise to be a very exciting fight, with an old and young champion coming to stop the other with a possible unification bout later this year.

Chris Algieri is the former WBO Jr. Welterweight champion of the world. He won that title after upsetting hard hitting Russian Ruslan Provodnikov. That night certainly changed Algieri’s life forever. After hitting the deck twice in the first round and his eye swelling completely shut, Algieri proved that he could not only re adjust to a fight in very quick fashion, but that he had the heart of a champion. He turned that fight into a three year run that has seen him face Manny Pacquiao, lose a tough nosed brawl against Amir Khan, and then duke it out last year against a very game Erick Bone. Algieri has gone from the “underdog” to the “gate keeper” of the welterweight division. He will be Spence Jr.’s toughest opponent to date, and many think that Algieri could derail the former amateur standouts road to a title fight this year.

Spence Jr. is what many are calling the future of the welterweight division. Spence is a 26 year old southpaw that seems to have it all, the hand speed, footwork and power to give anyone from 140-154 trouble. Spence is riding a 5 fight knockout streak against Javier Castro, Samuel Vargas, Phil Lo Greco, Chris Van Heerden and Alejandro Barrera. Spence Jr. is a very exciting fighter, whose future looks extremely bright. He will be fighting a former champion against Algieri, and the two seem to match up well on paper. This is a big moment for Spence to shine on the big stage of a primetime nationally televised audience, and if he fights the way he is capable of, this could lead to a big fight later on this year.